Dunleavy using ‘free’ federal money to promote tourism and his reelection campaign
The Dunleavy administration continues to use federal money for a TV ad campaign with Gov. Mike Dunleavy asking people to visit Alaska now and “get a free COVID vaccination if you want.”
“But just because summer’s over, doesn’t mean the fun ends,” Dunleavy says on his ad. “Whether it’s summer, fall, winter or spring, Alaska has something to offer.”
This at a time when hospitals are jammed with unvaccinated Alaskans who have fallen ill with COVID-19 and Dunleavy is refusing to confront the problem by telling people to get the shot. Yeah, the fun never ends.
The original ads falsely claimed that Alaska had one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, which was not true even when the ads first appeared in late spring.
The only reason the state is advertising right now like this is because it is “free” federal money and there is no need for Dunleavy to weigh the cost and potential benefit.
A private company would never do this. The Dunleavy reelection campaign wouldn’t do it either. The ads should be stopped and the Dunleavy campaign should pay the bill.
I’ve heard reports from people who saw the Alaska ads recently on TV in Florida and Minnesota. Former Rep. Les Gara, who is running against Dunleavy for governor, said he saw it on TV in Anchorage.
Gara is right that this is a campaign ad. What makes it worse, he said, is that the state did this during a health emergency in which everyone is at risk because of the lack of resources to care for those who are sick.
“The governor is still on TV inviting unvaccinated tourists to Alaska when hospitals are working with ‘crisis standards of care.’ It’s irresponsible self-promotion for the governor to be on TV asking more unvaccinated people to come to Alaska when hospitals that can’t treat Alaska patients who need medical care,” Gara said in a press release.
“We should listen to warnings about the inability to offer life-saving care, and not make the inability to treat all patients who need that care worse,” said Gara. According to an October 4, 2021, Anchorage Daily News report, ”Alaska’s recent per capita case rate is the highest in the U.S., and higher than that of any country in the world.”
Dunleavy is happy to spend whatever federal money is made available, such as the money for TV ads and the $87 million to hire temporary health care workers during this emergency.
He is also happy to condemn federal spending as wasteful, attacking the federal spending bill that “not only digs our nation deeper into debt but is a prime example of D.C.’s aggression against Alaska.”
He’s happy to be a hypocrite on federal spending.
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673